No chimney!

[Little Lou]

Timelord and bigpaul - just to say thank you so much for this discussion, because I'm sure it's helpful to a lot of other people too. I have a big house, but with small rooms and a way off-centre staircase, so what I've learned from this is not to have too big a stove downstairs - but that I may also need another heat source upstairs.

With ordinary central heating it's not been a problem, because hot air rises, but this is the most stupidly designed house I've ever come across. My plan now is to use the small back-up stove upstairs (making its own vent-hole post SHTF) - or just to close off the top storey altogether.

Very interesting either way. There's nothing like learning from people who are already living this way, and I'm very grateful for all your expertise.